Ibotta

My greatest pleasure in life is shopping and spending money on great deals. I am feet away from reaching the $500 Club and all of a sudden out of nowhere as unexpected as an erupting volcano I have been BLOCKED from withdrawing my earned and credited cash reward of $37.10 to my PayPal.

"OOOOOPS SOMETHING WENT WRONG IBOTTA LOOOKING INTO IT" This is the error notice that appears each and every time I attempted to withdraw my $37.10

I sent a total of four (4) emails requesting that I be given an explanation of what & why Ibotta have restricted me from withdrawing my earnings.

NOT A SINGLE REPLY AFTER 4 DAYS! They advise to read articles and rules which I have done many times and none of them pertain to me.

Another odd tidbit of information is that approximately 45 minutes prior to me attempting to withdraw my $37.10 to PayPal I had successfully transferred $43 that I had earned and been credited without any problems.

IBOTTA EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE RESTRICTED ME FROM WITHDRAWING MY EARNED CASH $37.10 STOP BEHAVING CREEPY!

This is an absolutely terrible app to use. It's nothing but running to different stores trying to find different items that those stores don't even sell just to get a quarterback or a dollar back on something you have to pick a certain store with a certain item to buy you're wasting your money your time it's been nothing but a joke. I this is an absolutely terrible app to use. It's nothing but running to different stores trying to find different items that those stores don't even sell just to get a quarterback or a dollar back on something you have to pick a certain store with a certain item to buy your wasting your time & money! My Account has been locked for 14 days for absolutely no reason, I don't have access to my money I've wasted numerous hours contacting PayPal no problems with Paypal, I reset my password & I reset my emails I've rearranged everything with my email screwed up all my business emails now trying to fix their email with the locked account. Ibotta have terrible customer service & never get back to you but with an automated messasage Saying somebody will contact you within seven days they are very busy at this time. It's been two weeks and nobody has gotten back to me but another automated message saying I'll get back to me within seven days! This is a total disappointment I would not recommend this app at all. The other three apps I use are much much better than this one with larger money back and the apps are actually fun and not confusing. See this app is so terrible that I just was trying to provide proof of how terrible this app was with the photo and won't even let me add the photo. You have to have a JPEG. This app is a joke

I attempted to use it on a particular product that required two products together to get the rebate (Ibotta call it a combo rebate). One item required a particular brand bottle of liquor, and to get the rebate, you also had to also buy a 2 liter bottle of "any" Soda.

I did so, but when I got home, I tried to scan the bar code on the Soda (a generic brand), and Ibotta would not take it. It did accept the liquor. I emailed Ibotta, and after I sent them the necessary information via email, they did approve the rebate. But that was time wasted.

Yesterday I found the same rebate in Ibotta on my phone. This time I decided to check that Ibotta would accept the product bar codes while I was still in the store. But when I scanned in the same liquor that was accepted by Ibotta before for the same rebate, IT REJECTED THE LIQUOR bar code this time. The app said it wasn't the right product.

Ibotta obviously has a quality problem. I've written them to explain the latest problem, and told them I would suspend using the app until the could tell me they have fixed their quality process.

It could be a good product if it didn't have these issues.

I'm done.

I stopped using Ibotta for a while because half the things you have to buy are utter crap. Luckily I had a serious sweet tooth so try to follow me through this road of ding and bats.

So last month I received a notification that I was going to be "charged" $3 if I didn't use the app in a certain time period, great manipulating tactics, so I managed to find something I liked. So I had my mother sign up so I could get the $3 referral and she ended up doing just that and making purchases at Stater Bros. Well, Stater Bros doesn't seem to use barcodes and I notified the help center and received some asinine copy and paste response from a woman name Lyn or whatever. A week later mind you. A response that was literally self explanatory and her cutting corners. She didn't address my question.

Okay so, still waiting for credit from my Stater Bros receipt with no barcode but clearly listing our purchases.

Today is July 6th and we shopped at Target. Now if anyone can vouch seeing these items I'm sure you'll get the picture. We purchased those Greek yogurt bars, Klondike bars, Outburst fruit bars... ect. The blasted barcode won't scan, plus it won't take it manually so I go back to the "help" center just annoyed. I send a screenshot of my purchases. It's legible. I receive yet another obtuse response claiming that my receipts don't match and I should verify my purchases. TF?!?

I had to ask if Ibotta were humans or robots because at least a robot has an excuse for not having a brain and simply not reading my purchases. So of course I became inspector gadget 2019 and tracked down Bryan Leach the owner on LinkedIn. I really want to tell him about his app.

I'm giving them one week to come back with a compensation of credits and I'm uninstalling this crap. It's not worth the headache dealing with utter incompetence.

The fact that there are recent complaints says that this app isn't worth the spit on the ground.

Addicted to the app... when it works and gives me rewards right away without giving me the run around. I was able to redeem $150.00 this past weekend right in to my pay pal account and back in to my bank account within mins, i got several account register in the app and rewards cards... Since... I haven't seen any new offers, all my offers are the same thru every single retailer. A lot of liquor offer hardly any food or any useful items. The items I regularly buy i have to buy more or buy the largest to now get any credit for it. Ibotta also" haven't been able to identify offers" am trying to redeem its been 3 days of this. Yes! For some items you have to buy the most expensive one to get any money for it. When i first started using the app i didn't have to find offers, i just took pics of the receipts and a bunch of offers and items used to pop up. I also noticing i got a couple of people to sign up for it, while teaching them how to used the app, once again loved it got credit right away... but as soon as they download the app its full of offers and items i don't see on my app. Back to hating... Offers like bananas apples and veggies. Or any receipt. LIKE shouldn't we all be seen the same offers? Specially if we are in the same area? Why am i giving you location access? I feel like am playing a video game the higher I go the harder it gets. Am definitely loosing interest. Like the changes don't make any sense, if i don't see any offer to get eventually won't bother checking, i definitely won't be fool in to buying things i don't need. And makes me upset because of the people i got to sign up.

So I had been using ibotta since January and cashed out once no issue, then come May of this year when I tried to cash out after using the app again due to needing money during this whole pandemic: and I kept getting an error message about my phone number. Mind you I had used this phone number this last time I cashed out. I contacted support and provided them my first and last name, zip code, email on the account to verify my ID yet Ibotta insisted some other number was linked to my account and until I could provide them that number they wouldn't put in the correct number for me to cash out. I offered to send a LITERAL PHOTO OF MY IDENTIFICATION with A hand written note next to it providing the date and that I want my number changed to the current one, and they said They needed the "old" number still, LOL. As if someone would go that far to steal $20 from a random humans ibotta account. So after going through days of trying to find any phone number I could have used I finally figured the number out and here's the kicker: once I emailed them the phone number they no longer replied nearly as fast as when I didn't have it.

After almost a month I finally got my $20.
Never again

Not worth your time. Initially, I enjoyed using Ibotta and found it relatively easy and worthwhile. However, over time, the changes Ibotta have made to both the website and the app have made it totally impossible for me to access. You can no longer see either offers or your balance on the website, and they apparently have no plans to go back.

On my older iphone, I'm space-limited and am unable to download the latest version of the app (earlier versions are unavailable). I would only be able to download the app IF I changed the operating system on my phone - which I not only can't do due to space, but don't want to do just so I can use their app. Even though I explained my situation to Ibotta (I asked them to send my funds along to my PayPal since I no longer had any way to access their program), their only responses were: to ignore the circumstances, delay their response so as to deduct their non-use fees, tell me to download the app, tell me to change my operating system.

Any decent, consumer-friendly company would have a functioning website, make it possible for users to access the service via older versions of the app, be willing to understand how they have diminished access, understand the value of satisfied users, apologized and sent my credits along to PayPal. Instead, Ibotta insists on being consumer unfriendly, intransigent and seemingly more interested in imposing fees.

Stay away from Ibotta. Far away.

I got an add that I could get free food as well as discounts by using this ad. I went to Walmart, PURCHASED the food with money I was sure would return to me but it wasn't. Ibotta said: "Unfortunately, Walmart receipts that are sent within the app by the TC# can only be re-sent within the first 24 hours of the first submission. We apologize for any inconvenience." Then Ibotta said could I please provide picture of the offer and the entire receipt. The offer expired since it took them up to or over a week to respond to my question about where my money was. And, I no longer had the receipt! I followed every single step this app said to do PLUS gave my bank information so the money could go back into my account. This is not right and is overly frustrating to people who are ALREADY frustrated by the times we are living in and the stress we are all experiencing from the world events. I can't say enough negative things about this site. RUN AWAY - (Also, the food items are no longer in my pantry or fridge, they are food items - they've been eaten!)

So it's not the most intuitive interface and it's also a royal pain to have to select the offers BEFORE you shop... if you scan a receipt which has an offer on it but you haven't added it to yout list then you're out of luck. This should be inmproved.
Then there are bugs like "any dozen eggs" or "any bottle of whiskey" yeah - nevr works, my receipt yesterday had eggs (and I had the offer) and the receipt today had Bushmills... neither worked.

OK, so those are the bad points, here's the good. If you find an offer you want, add to your list then go buy it and scan the receipt (and in some cases the bar code) then it will work. I have received the $3 back on a bottle of wine (Campo Viejo for those interested) multiple times. So buying 3 bottles at a time at any liquor store, that $9 back can add up really quickly.
So far I have got over $100 back... and I was out of the country and not able to use the app for 4 months!
Most useful if you are a family with kids because diapers and paper goods are often in the offers, unfortunately a lot of the stuff I buy (with the exception of the wine) are not.
Hit and miss with the offers and really the step of: add to your list" should be improved (look at Fetch rewards app people) sbut it does work and transfers $ to your bank account swiftly.

I will likely delete this app trying to get up to the $20 required to get paid! It is ton of work and not worth my time.
On the surface Ibotta appears to be a savers Paradise but in all true honesty it is I don't Botta! It is more like a shoppers nightmare. Always some excuse for them not to pay. Items have to be scanned over and over again as do receipts. And sometimes it turns out it's not the right merchant (not on Ibotta's approved list) but it's the right product. And any receipt any item option does not cover ANY item or ANY receipt in reality.

I suspect Ibotta are mining consumers personal information and shopping habits and selling it to retailers.

In fact today at Walmart I saw an end cap with products and it featured the Ibotta logo!

Personally I am just about done shopping at Walmart as well. They have high prices, customers doing most of the work, and now they're going to be tied up with Ibotta.

Whatever sweetheart deal Ibotta has with Walmart is guaranteed not to be in favor of customers or employees.

I started using the app a few months ago because I'm poor and trying to put myself through school, so every cent I can save is a win for me. I personally haven't had a problem with scanning my receipts and getting money back on my item purchases (I. E. a dollar back on soap) but the function where you can pay with Ibotta at restaurants/stores is a SCAM.

I went to go pay for my meal at Applebee's using the Ibotta percent back function, and Ibotta took my money from my debt card, but Ibotta didn't actually credit the restaurant with my purchase. I called the restaurant and the Applebee's manager was kind and showed me the transaction history, explaining that the Ibotta purchase never recorded on their end. The only purchase that recorded was the one I had to use with my physical debit card after the app failed. I contacted Ibotta explaining my issue, and Ibotta told me that "gift card sales are final and that I got my dollar cash back, so there was nothing they can do it about it," definitely do not use the cash back function at restaurants because it's a scam, lucky for me, I've kept my receipts, and have physical evidence showing that Applebee's never received the Ibotta payment, and that the app just took my money. Ibotta definitely won't be hearing the end of this.

Until recently WAS a big fan. I always heard that there could be payout problems. I was always trying to get a few items every week and found the kids loving Chex for 1.50 rebate me too. So I planned a huge Ibotta day. I needed 16 buys to get a 10 dollar bonus. I bought every BOGO and big rebate like 1.50 Chex buying multiples. So to AVOID problems I immediately scan my receipt in store. Yep needed 16 items got 23 and had money back of over 32 dollars. Following shopping trip checked my amount on Ibotta. Nothing but a 2$ credit from months earlier. Ibotta of course needs the receipt sent AGAIN. Tried to get receipt copy from Walmart supplying date/time/ register and person scanning and my card. All that supplied Walmart can't find it. I'm not sure how many weeks of shopping I got nothing, even after religiously scanning receipt s each time. I did cash out nearly 90 plus dollars earlier this year but no more. I would think the Ibotta app would hold my receipt pics in a file in my phone Ibotta could pull up. So just to be safe send them in and keep all your receipts cause what you here is true.

I have had Ibotta for 9 months now. I have earned about $145 over that time period, but most of it is from bonuses and online shopping (like Amazon).

At first it worked great for the grocery. Before you go shopping you select the offers you want. At my regular grocery store (Pick n Save), the store and Ibotta had some deal where the store sent Ibotta the receipts and Ibotta were automatically processed. Now my store got bought out (by Kroeger) and it's not automated anymore. When I come home from shopping I have to take a picture of my receipt and then scan the bar code of every item I want to redeem an offer on. Since most of the rebates are on processed food and I don't buy a ton of it, I generally only earn $1 or so for each shopping trip. It's just a lot of work for how much you get back. I'm spending 20 minutes every week reviewing and selecting offers and then scanning bar codes for like a $1. I don't really have anything better to do, but still!

Also, a bunch of these reviews are talking about not being able to get their money out. It worried me so I just cashed out my balance. It was a process because I had to connect to my paypal account and reset my Ibotta password for some reason, but it worked fine. I suspect a lot of these people are scamming.

I first joined Ibotta in 2014, but didn't really use it until 2017. Scrolling through the offers, reading, and selecting, takes quite a bit of time and is pretty tedious, I have to admit. I've never been prevented from cashing out my money to Paypal, or using it to buy gift cards (I've done Walmart and Home Depot so far). Yes, some items that should qualify for an offer don't (usually a data entry error where Ibotta haven't input the specific barcode of the item you purchased. Just happened to me with Kashi cereal at Walmart. I used the help option in the app and had my credit the next day. Since that cereal would have given me the Kashi bonus, they credited me for that too.) Reading the offer wrong will absolutely result in no credit. For instance, I love Dukes mayonnaise. They recently put that on offer in Ibotta, and I was like, score! I bought one, and submitted it. It didn't show up. Reading more closely, I needed to buy two. So, I went back to the store in a few days when I needed to get some other stuff, returned the one, and bought two. This time I was credited. Easy peasy. But, you have to read and pay attention to details. And that scrolling, reading, and selecting takes time. But I'm almost to $1000 back. That's real money.

I've been using Ibotta almost 6 years now. Other apps have come and gone, and there are an additional 2 I currently use, but by far Ibotta is the best.

Yes, there are a few issues, but you'll always find that.

I've found one way to reduce non-payment on rebates is to do a quick check to be sure the app accepts the item. (Open the item on the app and "check product code"). A few times I've found that even though the item seems to meet the criteria, I still get a not-qualified notice. I've also found that not all items are accepted at all stores. Much easier to check before purchasing.

The biggest issue I have is not getting paid on a rebate, or not getting the full amount. I ALWAYS keep my receipts and make note of the amount submitted. If there are any issues, it's easy to submit a missing credit request on the computer. I have my notes and the receipt to refer to. I usually get my additional credit within a day or two, which is much quicker than it used to be.

All in all, I find this is very well worth the time. And I LOVE getting free items and great deals!

This is one of those applications that at first Ibotta get you with good savings and then start stealing your cash, so it goes for 5 star review and I wish I could have a negative option to select and submit.

I have been using this App for a while and they give you cash but you also loose it right away. First, you start buying expensive products you never used to buy just because of some cent they give you as a reward. They trick you a lot and manipulate the products prices and it varies between users. They love you share the application with many people supposedly and pay both who share and who use it and make a rebate for first time, and that is not working anymore as it should, that faulty system ignore all that. It crashes EVERY day, I guess they are tracking you and if you do not submit the receipt right away you could get nothing when you got home because they remove those products you bought and were available at the time you were paying for it. By the way, it was confirmed they flag accounts if you buy and use it frequently (how come is that possible, they should be happy instead). It also makes you waste long time in the store trying to localize those specific items, i don't think it worth it to get a couple of dollars and spent 3 hours at store with the risk they steal your cash after.

They freeze receipt and play with the total # of rebates you should achieve increasing it from one day to another. Last thing that happened to me is they deactivate my account a couple of times and stole the cash I had available with a lame excuse saying I returned products, even though I sent back a picture with all the stuff I had collected at home... no response... help desk system is really bad, anyways they have the last word so there is nothing to claim. Funny, if you change your phone they might close your account too because you can't use a different device... crazy ah!. Is that the way to keep your users happy? I'm sorry, but won't use it ever again!

What a pain! You have to go in and select what you are going to buy. It was working OK - since my Walmart account is linked, but then stopped, when I had the largest refund amount (~$10), Ibotta care (Ibotta DON'T) wants me to now (2 weeks later when they finally get back to me!) sent them a list of my items and a photo of the package AND barcode. Are you freaking kidding me!?!? They have my receipt - I uploaded it! Com on! You've gotta do better than this!
I also had an issue when I got a new phone - didn't remember my password and they locked me out of my account. It took about a month to convince them I was me! OMG! Nothing is easy if you have to got thru the ibotta care (they DON'T care!). And it always takes at least a week for them to get back to you!
Ok - so honest, I've been using this for 6 months and I have almost $30 - to put toward a gift card. I buy a lot of store brands, rather than named brands, so this doesn't really work well for me anyway. I really like Ratuken - they mail a check. Bye Bye ibotta - you suck!

Please save your time and your energy with Ibotta, because is not worth it! I had a terrible experience with them, I never got my money back on several rebates. The waiting time is up to 48 hours, but usually the money is back in a couple of hours. After waiting 3 days since I uploaded a substantial receipt ( and was still pending) I decided to write to them and ask why is taking so long, and if is smtg wrong... after another 2 days I received an email that said that I used a duplicate receipt, which wasn't true. After my account was locked without any explanation, and took another 2 weeks to get some response from their team care... I feel like there are other rebate apps that are much easier to use -I personally like fetch, since with ibotta you need a lot of time to plan and scan all the deals, make sure Ibotta qualify, there are lots of select products and just lots of hassle. Anyway I gave up on ibotta. Bottom line, terrible costumer service( they literally respond in 2+Weeks) and so much work since they don't honor their offers. If you have opportunity to cash out, please do it ASAP because you never know when they just decide to lock or deactivate your account, without any reason

Ibotta SUCKS and RIPS PEOPLE OFF
I go by all of their rules. I spend lots and lots of money at supermarkets and other retailers. I put in for digital receipts so there for all I would have to do is purchase the eligible items that would earn cash back. Well originally I " never had an issue and hit my goal for a gift card in no time at all. Well I noticed I haven't received any cash back. I reached out to ibotta and the person that emailed me yesterday asked me to submit my receipts. I explained ibotta owed me well over $10 if not more, explained in detail. Tonight another person stated after my submitting my receipts. And going through my entire email. The person that contacted me today ( mind you less then one day later). Stated unfortunately the ibotta team cannot except the receipts because Ibotta are over a week old. What difference does it make if the items are on the ibotta site to be redeemed and you have the receipts What's the use of having digital receipts if ibotta isn't doing their job by giving you credit for it. I am going to contact the bbb. This company shouldn't be allowed to do this to anyone. I have receipts for probably 3 or 4 twenty packs scott toilet paper which earn. $2 back on each. As well as other redeemable items that haven't been credited credited to my account. I think they lure people in and give them the cash or gift cards the first or second time then run their bs the time expired. Then what's the reason for digital receipts? I had no issue the first few weeks. I am not letting them do this to me, it is wrong plain and simple.

At first I found Ibotta to be somewhat confusing but now I utilize it to the max. Here are some tips to help those who are struggling. Once you select the store you are going to buy from then select the items you are going to buy. When you select an item tap on it and be sure to read the exclusions. For instance, if the item is for Oreo NBA Cookies, you can only buy that particular one, not the overstuffed, etc. Make your grocery list from those items you have chosen. To Redeem those items you just scan your receipt. Sometimes after you scan your receipt there will still be items left in you account, when you tap on the item Ibotta will ask you to scan the bar code of that item. I use the gift card for withdrawing the funds I have earned. Just select the store, and then the amount you want to withdraw and Ibotta will email you a gift card that you can print or save as a picture. Some stores only let you withdraw a $25 gift card. Wal-Mart and other stores gives you more selections of denominations for withdrawing. Once I navigated around the program, I got the hang of it. Keep working at it and you too will be saving tons of money.